A blog about my experiances both of braces/orthodontics and jaw surgery.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

September 5th 2007I have an appointment to see the oral surgeon on the 13th September, and hopefully then will find out the exact date of my surgery. As the time drawers nearer i am actually getting quite scared, but i have booked a trip to eurodisney on the 18th September so whatever the surgeon has to say i will have something to cheer myself up.

August 16th 2007Teeth had not moved at all on this appointment so my surgery will now be put back by a month until mid December-wonderful timing! Was very very disappointed by this as no matter how brave i am about it, to my mates and family having it done at Xmas is going to be pretty hard going. I now have a power chain on 8 bottom teeth and another one on 8 of the top teeth, so i think the ortho is doing all she can to make sure the buggers move enough this time!July 5th 2007More impressions, not actually as bad as i remember, found out today my surgery should be in November fingers crossed.

This is the side on view of my teeth as of July 5th 2007, as you can see my top teeth are still very prominent and overhang my lower teeth.BIG DAY on the 23rd march 2007 i realised i could touch my front teeth together for the 1st time in my life, this was a huge boost and made all the discomfort seem so worth it.

7th September 2006The 3 spacers were removed and the back teeth were banded up and put into the arch wires, meaning new places to get sores and ulcers-fantastic! I also managed to snap my archwire twice in 24 hours eating crisps, so i wasn't too popular. Things progressed nicely and life with braces on was just like life before, i had 6weekly appointments and powerchains were added onto the bottom teeth, which to be honest wasn't the greatest part ever.24th August 20063 more spacers were added to give room for the back teeth to be banded, this wasn't nice as it felt like my teeth were being pushed from every angle possible, i also had incredibly bad ulcers at this point which didn't help how i felt at all.

22nd June 2006 BRACE DAYthe spacers were taken out and my lips were fitted into some weird plastic device to keep them out of the way whilst i was worked on. The molar bands were fitted 1st and this was abit unpleasant, as they obviously have to be quite tight and the glue they used made me feel sick. Then the other brackets were glued on and the wires added, at this point the very back teeth were not braced.8th June 20066 spacers put in today, the ortho inserted 6 small blue rubber rings in-between my back teeth using pliers, and it wasn't as bad as i had feared, i found it didn't really hurt but felt like i had elastic bands between my teeth which was very very strange. A few hours later they did start to hurt, but it was more a feeling of pressure then pain, and with in a few days i was eating normally again.

Back to the beginning......................................

“I'm going to refer you to the orthodontist” these were the words i was dreading to hear. As i sat in the dentists chair at the age of 25 after all id been through with my teeth these were the last words i wanted too hear.

When i was younger i had a complete phobia of dentists, my mum actually had to drag me there, so when as a child i was offered braces there wasn't a moments hesitation in saying “no thanks.”My teeth were very badly aligned and i had a severe overbite and a huge gap between my upper and lower front teeth making biting down impossible but id happily put up with that if it meant no extra visits to the dentists chair.As i got older i put this conversation to the back of my mind, not knowing it was going to come back to haunt me years later.

At the age of 25 i developed a small lump between 2 of my lower teeth which was incredibly painful. So plucking up all my courage off i went to the dentist, confident it was just a small problem i wasn't to scared. Upon showing the dentist and having a xray it turned out to be a rather nasty and large abscess. With no time to get scared i was having the tooth drilled open to let the infection out and the root killed off.

Unfortunately it didn't make much difference and over the following weeks i was having it drilled, left open to drain and filled, but still it just sat there. One day the tooth gave up the fight and the side of it just fell out so i decided enough was enough and had it removed. Then the extraction site didn't heal and was constantly infected, i had it filled with antibiotics, oral antibiotics and saline washes but it actually spread.

Off to the dentist again, more bad news not only had it not healed now it had spread to the tooth next to the extraction site. Quick action was now required and the 2nd tooth was removed then and there.

Now there was 2 extraction sites side by side and both refused to heal. I was getting scared by this point. I was referred as an emergency to the local hospital and the maxillo facial surgeon there, and within a few days i was booked in for emergency surgery. Unfortunately it was urgent so i had it done by local anaesthetic and i was terrified.

The operation went well and my gum and jaw bone were cut open, the infected parts removed and sent for a biopsy and i was stitched up and sent home. Still it wasn't over and i was nearly admitted to hospital again before the infection was finally got under control with very strong antibiotics.

Unluckily due to the trauma my jaw had suffered, i had to undergo another operation 6months after the 1st as a piece of my jaw bone splintered away and was sticking out through my gum.

So after all this i was now hearing the dreaded orthodontist word.

At my 1st orthodontist appointment i was poked and prodded, my teeth measured and asked to smile and xrayed in every position possible. The orthodontist then turned to me and said, “you have one of the worst overbites i have ever seen and severely bad malocclusion of your teeth. “OK” i thought, but then i heard the details and boy was i in for a shock.

3 years in fixed braces, after 18 months a major operation, involving breaking both jaws, resetting my top with metal plates and using a piece of my thigh bone to lengthen my lower jaw forwards. I was speechless, but after hearing what would happen if i turned it down i agreed to go ahead.

An appointment was made for me to meet the surgeon, who would carry out the operation so i could gain more information on the procedure. The surgeon ironically turned out to be the same one who had preformed my earlier surgery only weeks before.

I was taken through the procedure, risks etc, but didn't really take it in, i think i was still in shock. At the end i was asked if i was sure i wanted to proceed, i said yes and was put straight on the nhs waiting list. Luckily my case was considered so severe i qualified for free nhs treatment as the estimated cost was £11,000, the downside was the 2year plus waiting list for the braces on the nhs.

So i waited, over 2 years, over this time the malocclusion of my teeth took its toll, and the uneven pressure caused another abscess, and this time i had to have a apiecetomy preformed which was another terrible experience and the only time i have ever fainted at the dentist.

Eventually though the time came for the 1st orthos appointment. My teeth were poked and measured some more, like a dental check up but more in depth.

An appointment was made for 2 weeks later to have the spacers put in that marked the beginning of my journey.